After My Husband Declined My Emergency Calls, I Took Everything

I told Colter I was seeing a therapist.

"Postpartum stuff," I said. "The doctor recommended it."

He looked relieved. "That's good. You should take care of yourself."

He kissed my forehead and left for the office. I watched him go. Then I put Rosalie in her carrier and took a cab to Diana Holloway's firm in Midtown.

The first meeting lasted two hours. Diana was younger than I expected. Sharp suit. No wedding ring. She listened without interrupting while I laid out everything. The timeline. The hospital calls. The Instagram posts. The receipts from his luggage.

When I finished, she leaned back in her chair.

"You want the company," she said.

It wasn't a question.

"I want what I'm owed."

She smiled. It wasn't a warm smile. "Then we need to look at Eleanor Reed's will."

She already had a copy. She slid it across the desk. I read the section she'd highlighted.

*Upon the birth of Colter Reed's firstborn child, seventy percent of Reed Corporation shares shall transfer to said child, with custodial management passing to the child's legal guardian until the age of majority.*

I read it again. Then a third time.

"Firstborn child," I said slowly. "Not firstborn son."

"Exactly."

I looked down at Rosalie sleeping in her carrier. Her tiny fist curled against her cheek.

"They never read it carefully," Diana said. "They assumed. Men like the Reeds always assume."

I felt something cold settle in my chest. Not anger. Clarity.

"What do I need to do?"

Diana opened a folder. "We file the transfer paperwork with the family's corporate attorney. Victor Lau. He's been with them for thirty years. If he signs off, it's done. No court. No fight. Just paperwork."

"And if he doesn't?"

"He will. Because the will is ironclad. Eleanor Reed knew exactly what she was writing."

I scheduled the next appointment for two weeks out.

---

Margaret came to visit on a Sunday.

She brought flowers. White roses. She held Rosalie for exactly four minutes, then handed her back to me like she was returning a borrowed coat.

"She's small," Margaret said.

"She was early."

"Yes. I heard it was quite dramatic."

I didn't answer. I poured tea. Margaret watched me with the expression of someone studying a puzzle.

"Colter seems tired," she said. "All that travel."

"He works hard."

"Of course. Though I imagine it's nice to reconnect with old friends. Julissa Hart is back in the city, did you know?"

I set the teapot down gently. I smiled.

"How nice for him."

Margaret's eyes narrowed just slightly. She took a sip of tea. "She's a lovely girl. Very accomplished family. I always thought—" She paused. "Well. Water under the bridge."

I refilled her cup. My hand didn't shake.

"More tea?"

She studied my face. I could see her trying to read me. Trying to find the crack. The weakness. The place to press.

There wasn't one.

After a long moment, she set her cup down. "You're handling everything very well, Serenity."

"Thank you."

She left twenty minutes later. I watched her car pull away from the window. Then I went back to the kitchen and poured the rest of the tea down the sink.

Rosalie started crying. I picked her up. I held her against my chest and felt her heartbeat.

"She doesn't get to have you," I whispered. "None of them do."

---

The second meeting with Diana was shorter.

She handed me a stack of phone records. Subpoenaed. Legal. Timestamped.

Four calls from Mount Sinai Medical Center to Colter Reed's cell phone. All declined. All during the two-hour window of my emergency surgery.

I stared at the page. The dates. The times. The duration: zero seconds.

Diana's voice was quiet. "He didn't just miss the calls. He actively rejected them."

I set the records down. I opened my laptop. I pulled up Julissa's Instagram archive. I matched the timestamps.

Call one: declined at 3:47 PM. Julissa's story posted at 3:52 PM. Colter kissing her hand at a cliffside restaurant.

Call two: declined at 4:15 PM. Julissa's story posted at 4:18 PM. Champagne glasses. Ocean view. Caption: *Living the dream.*

Call three: declined at 5:03 PM. Julissa's story posted at 5:09 PM. Colter asleep on a hotel balcony.

Call four: declined at 6:31 PM. Julissa's story posted at 6:40 PM. Sunset. His arm around her waist.

I closed the laptop.

"Is this enough?" I asked.

Diana nodded. "This is everything."

---

The third meeting was with Victor Lau.

He was older than I expected. Silver hair. Expensive suit. He shook my hand and smiled like we were old friends.

"Mrs. Reed. A pleasure."

Diana had already sent him the will. He'd reviewed it. He knew why I was there.

We sat. He folded his hands on the desk.

"I've represented the Reed family for thirty-two years," he said. "I drafted Eleanor's will myself."

"Then you know it's valid."

"I do." He paused. "I also know the family will be… surprised."

"That's not my problem."

He studied me for a long moment. Then he nodded slowly.

"No. I suppose it isn't." He opened a folder. "The transfer is legally executable. Rosalie Reed is Colter Reed's firstborn child. You hold full custodial authority. The shares pass to her. Management passes to you."

"When can we file?"

"Whenever you're ready."

I looked at Diana. She looked at me.

"Two weeks," I said. "The night of Rosalie's one-month celebration."

Victor's eyebrows lifted slightly. "That's… pointed."

"That's intentional."

He almost smiled. "Very well."

He signed the preliminary documents. I signed next to him. Diana witnessed.

When we stood to leave, Victor walked me to the door.

"Mrs. Reed," he said quietly. "For what it's worth—they should have read it more carefully."

I met his eyes. "Yes. They should have."

I walked out into the cold November air. Rosalie was asleep in her carrier. The city moved around us. Taxis. Pedestrians. The noise of people living their lives.

I pulled out my phone. I opened the folder labeled EVIDENCE. I scrolled through it one more time. Photos. Texts. Receipts. Phone records. Instagram archives. Everything.

I had two weeks.

I was going to use every second.